PERLITA

Written and Directed by Lauren Luke

Logline

Mia, a Filipina teenage girl, mourns the loss of her grandmother, Mama. We spend a day with them, 10 years in the past, exploring Mia's effervescent memory and the indelible legacy Mama left behind.

"Perlita", is about a little girl and her grandma, based on my relationship with my grandmother, who passed away in 2018. Her name was Perlita but I called her mama. We were extremely close. When I think of her, I think of moments, like paintings, almost. The film's about grief and remembrance. But most of all, it's about a little girl and her grandma, the memories we keep, and what happens to our loved ones after we say goodbye.

PERLITA is now entering its festival circuit.

CAST

Brianna Feng “Little Mia”

Lauren Luke “Teenage Mia”

Maria Elena del Prado “Mama”

Ann Constantino Beck “Julie”

This is a personal story. Here’s a peek into my archive. I adored my mama. Meet her here.

Help bring this story to life!

Woohoo! We’re 75% funded! We have a remaining flexible goal of at least $800, which will help cover film scanning fees, transportation, and food costs. Anything helps! A donation automatically earns you a Special Thanks in the credits! Thank you, mahalo, and salamat po! - Lauren Luke, Director

Meet the Crew

Lauren Luke

WRITER/ DIRECTOR
Hawaii-born filmmaker, Lauren Luke, moved to New York in 2021 to study film production at NYU. Despite the distance, she hopes to continually preserve her Filipino, Hawaiian, and Chinese cultures, and pay homage to the people and places she calls home. She identifies as a keeper of nostalgia and can’t wait to honor her Mama through “Perlita” with the help of her crew and continual love and support of her family.
Halle Skye

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Halle Skye is a promising British screenwriter and director who moved to New York in 2021 to expand her craft and career. So far, she has found a loyal network of friends and inspiring projects such as “Perlita”. Having had her life split between two countries, with chosen family littered worldwide. She is overjoyed to be a part of this film on familial love.
Jason Wang

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Jason was born in China and moved to the United States when he was 14. Jason currently studies film at NYU and focuses on cinematography. He doesn’t have a fancy backstory on how he stumbled across his dad’s camera as a kid and fell in love ever since. He simply decided he loves beautiful images one day, started shooting, and never looked back.
Jack Lacy

PRODUCER
Jack Lacy is a gay, Filipino American filmmaker, and one of the producers of Perlita. He aspires to uplift minority narratives of Sexuality, Gender, and Race issues in all the projects he works on — most recently his documentary “Kapwa/Togetherness” which screened at Lincoln Center. As a proponent of Fil-Am representation, Jack is extremely excited to help bring the story of Perlita to life.
MJ Addington

PRODUCER
MJ Briggs Addington is a queer, Hawaiian, Filipino producer who grew up on O’ahu, Hawai’i. Having a similar cultural and ethnic background as Director Lauren Luke, MJ is ecstatic to be a part of the team and help tell a story he can personally relate to. He aspires to create stories that reflect the multitude of beautiful, diverse experiences in this world.